King Runeard
King Runeard is the posthumous main antagonist of Disney's 58th full-length animated feature film Frozen II, the sequel to Disney's 2013 film Frozen. He was the founder and first King of Arendelle, the husband of Queen Rita, the father of King Agnarr, the father-in-law of Queen Iduna, and the paternal grandfather of Elsa and Anna. As opposed to his aforementioned family who are benevolent rulers, Runeard was a ruthless tyrant who plotted to neutralize the Northuldran people out of fear of their association with magic. He is also the reason that the events of both movies took place. He was voiced by Jeremy Sisto, who also played Talon in Batman vs. Robin. Personality At first, Runeard was seemingly presented out as a benevolent and peaceful ruler as he welcomed the Northuldrans and built up a dam to act as a bridge of peace between both Northuldra and Arendelle; even his son Agnarr and his granddaughters Elsa and Anna revered and idolized him as the great founder of Arendelle. However, this was all a facade that Runeard made up to hide his true nature as a hostile, arrogant, manipulative, racist, and selfish tyrant who is determined to expand his power through fear and oppression and who does not care about anything other than his status as King. It also turns out that Runeard hated the Northuldrans due to their connection to magic, as he feared that magic makes people too powerful and potentially threaten his legacy as a king. It also turns out that he only built the dam in order to weaken Northuldra's resources so that he could starve and force the Northuldrans into his rule; this was evident when he murdered the Northuldran tribe leader for developing suspicions over the dam before sparking a war against the Northuldrans to cover his tracks. Eerily, Runeard seemed to harbor a resentment for the Northuldrans much deeper than that of sensible worry, as he saw fit to deceive his own men, possibly believing that they would never tolerate or advocate the full extent of his intentions. He let only his second-in-command know of the dam's real oppressive function, and after murdering the Northuldrans' unarmed leader, he manipulated his entire army into believing the Northuldrans had attacked him, ordering an unwarranted offensive on the people and causing casualties on both factions. It is likely that Runeard realized he could not ensnare the Northuldrans in his lies forever, and thus moved his plans to the next and more extreme step. The novelization of the movie unveils more of Runeard's deep-rooted spite: Even as he looks at Northuldran children simply playing, he shakes his head and scowls with disgust, leaving the Northuldran Yelena to sense his hatred. It's therefore evident that Runeard loathed the entire people, and wasn't simply worried about the adults rising up to him. It also apparent that Runeard was quite neglectful towards his family as he showed little to no concern or consideration over the well-being of his young son, who was present in the camps during the battle against the Northuldrans. If Iduna hadn't saved him from the crossfire, Agnarr would've been surely killed, and even so the only one who cared for Agnarr's safety was Lieutenant Mattias. It's evident that even before that, Runeard didn't have a good relationship with Agnarr, given that the only time they are seen interacting onscreen, Runeard just coldly ordered Agnarr to stand tall in his posture, indicating that he intended to mold Agnarr into a ruthless king like himself. The novelization of the movie substantiates this relationship, as it falls on Lieutenant Mattias to cheer Agnarr up when he feels laid aside by his father; Moreover, Agnarr is shown to be aware that Runeard had put Agnarr in Mattias's charge as a way to get rid of him during discussions with the other men and the Northuldrans. However, Runeard's arrogance and prejudice proved to be his downfall as the war that he instigated against the Northuldrans led to him falling to his death on a cliff and causing the angered spirits to cast a curse on the Enchanted Forest for decades. Upon learning the truth, Elsa and Anna were left heartbroken and appalled by their grandfather's heinous crimes, furiously abandoning all respect they had for him by destroying the dam to end the curse and bring true peace to both Arendelle and Northuldra. History Past Years prior to the events of the film, Runeard created the Kingdom of Arendelle and became its first King. At some point, he married a woman named Rita, who became Arendelle's first Queen. She gave birth to their son Prince Agnarr. It's unknown what happened later to Rita, but it seems that she passed away, possibly when giving birth to Agnarr. According to the tie-in novel Frozen: Forest of Shadows, Runeard oversaw the construction of the modern Arendelle Castle when Agnarr was just a boy. When Agnarr was 14 years old, the tribe of Northuldra, who lived in the Enchanted Forest north of Arendelle in harmony with the elemental spirits who also resided there, made peace with Runeard and his kingdom, with Runeard and his men frequently meeting with them because of this. He also gets his men to build up a dam in the Enchanted Forest near a fjord, supposedly designed to help the Northuldran people and bring prosperity to their land. Betrayal and Death However, in truth, Runeard actually feared and despised the Northuldrans, believing that their association with magic made them too entitled and that they could potentially threaten his power as king. It also turns out that the dam was only created to weaken Northuldra's resources so that Runeard could subjugate them to his rule. This was shown when he ordered his second-in-command to bring in Arendelle's grand army to speed things up and prepare for an imminent attack; even when his second-in-command wisely pointed out that the Northuldrans aren't distrustful in nature, Runeard arrogantly refused to heed his advice as he still despised magic. When the Northuldran leader saw that the dam is weakening the land's resources instead of strengthening them, he confronted Runeard, who declared that they would discuss this in private and find a solution while having tea at the fjord, a proposal that the Northuldran leader agreed upon. However, this was just a ruse to let the Northuldran leader's guard down as Runeard wields his sword and kills the Northuldran leader from behind. To cover his tracks, Runeard claimed to his army that the Northuldrans attacked him, and a battle broke out between the Arendellian soldiers and the Northuldran people, resulting a number of casualties between both sides. Eventually, during the fight, Runeard was driven to a cliff and fell to his death, along with the Northuldran that he was trying to strike down. The spirits of the Enchanted Forest, enraged by the fighting, cursed the forest by enveloping it in a powerful mist that would keep anyone from leaving or entering, trapping the Northuldran people and Arendellian soldiers inside. Prince Agnarr managed to escape the mist with the help of a Northuldran girl named Iduna, whom he would later marry upon inheriting the throne of Arendelle, thus becoming the new King and Queen. In the following years, Runeard posthumously became a grandfather after Agnarr and Iduna gave birth to Elsa and Anna. Due to Iduna's selfless act during Runeard's attack, the elemental spirits rewarded Elsa with ice powers. Years later, King Agnarr would tell Elsa and Anna about the story of the Enchanted Forest, unaware that his father had actually started the conflict that sealed it off from the world in the first place. Upon learning about Elsa's powers, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna sailed off to find a mystical river called the Ahtohallan that holds all explanations of the past in hopes seeking answers to Elsa's powers. However, both Agnarr and Iduna perished to their deaths in a shipwreck caused by a violent storm, leaving a distraught Elsa to take over as the new Queen of Arendelle. Legacy It has been 3 years following Elsa's coronation and the defeat of Prince Hans, the Duke of Weselton and his thugs. However, the stakes changed when Elsa, upon hearing the call of a mysterious voice and accidentally awakening the elemental spirits, travels to the Enchanted Forest alongside her sister Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven. Foreshadowing what was to come, whilst fighting the Wind Spirit, later named Gale, Elsa was met with the vague glimpses of the past that showed Runeard roaring in rage as his sword fell down on something veiled by the fog. Then, as Elsa was face to face with her grandfather, she saw Runeard coldly glower at whomever he attacked, stating: "For Arendelle." After taming the Wind Spirit, they met the trapped Northuldran people (led by their tribe leader Yelana) and Arendellian soldiers (led by Runeard's former lieutenant Destin Mattias), learning of her mother's heritage and encountering the different elemental spirits in the process. Explaining of her parents' heritage, Elsa was able to arrange a truce between the Northuldrans and Arendellian soldiers. While travelling towards the Ahtohallan, Elsa, Anna and Olaf discover Agnarr and Iduna's shipwreck, realizing that they had perished trying to reach the Ahtohallan themselves and find answers about Elsa's powers. Believing that her powers are the reason why both Agnarr and Iduna died, a guilty Elsa forces Anna and Olaf away and seeks out the river by herself. Upon reaching it, Elsa finds out about the true origin of her powers and that she herself is one of the spirits because of it. Gazing at moments of the past, Elsa finds one revealing that Runeard was responsible for the forest's curse by creating the dam, killing the Northuldran leader, and instigating the war against the Northuldrans, all due to his fear and hatred of magic. Outraged to learn that her late grandfather was really a ruthless tyrant who allowed his own fear and hatred to consume his mind over trusting others, Elsa furiously denounces Runeard for his actions and sends the information to Anna before freezing as a result of venturing into the most dangerous part of Ahtohallan. While trying to find a way out of the cave she and Olaf had become trapped in, Anna receives Elsa's message in the form of an ice sculpture of Runeard about to murder the unarmed Northuldran leader. Realizing the atrocious scoundrel their grandfather truly was and seeing that Olaf has faded away due to Elsa's fate, a mournful Anna concludes that the dam must be destroyed to end the curse and the war, despite being informed earlier by Kristoff that doing so would also cause a flood through the fjord that would sink down Arendelle. Upon escaping the caves, Anna provokes the Earth Spirits into chasing her to the dam and explains the truth to Mattias and the Arendellian soldiers about Runeard's heinous crimes. Realizing their mistake for following a despicable tyrant, Mattias and the Arendellian soldiers signaled the Earth Spirits to destroy the dam with boulders. Though the destruction of the dam lifts the mist from the Forest and saves both Elsa and Olaf for good, a giant flood heads down the fjord to sink Arendelle, but Elsa uses her powers to divert the flood, saving Arendelle in the process. With the curse finally lifted, Elsa decides to remain in the Enchanted Forest as its new protector while abdicating the throne to Anna, thus bringing true peace to both Arendelle and Northuldra and ending Runeard's dreadful legacy for good. Trivia *King Runeard is the first main antagonist of a Disney animated film to be a completely posthumous character, since he had been long dead by the time the film's events take place while his actions plague the protagonists in the present. **Likewise, King Runeard is the first main antagonist in the Disney Animated Canon who didn't face the heroes or make any contact with them or any other characters in the series. *Despite being the main antagonist, King Runeard only had four minutes of screentime. In fact, out of all the main antagonists in the Disney Animated Canon, King Runeard has the smallest amount of screentime. This makes his actions even worse as he made this much of an impact in such a short period of time. Category:Males Category:Deceased Villains